Chicken Minestrone Soup Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

3 carrots peeled and diced
4 pieces of celery sliced and diced
1 red pepper diced
2 onions finely diced
1/2 cup of very small pasta pieces
olive oil for frying
1 cup of dried barley
1 cup of red lentils
1 cup of left over chicken meat diced into bite sized pieces
3 rashers of bacon trimmed of fat and diced, smoked or unsmoked according to personal preferences
salt and pepper to taste
2 to 3 pints of chicken stock(enough to cover the soup when cooking) homemade or bought
Herbs such as 1/2 teaspoon of dried or fresh thyme and 1/2 teaspoon of dried or fresh rosemary

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat olive oil in a large pan to a medium heat and add the onions, garlic and bacon. Cook and sweat for about 10 minutes
2. Add the carrots, celery and pepper and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes
3. Add the barley, red lentils and stock and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes until the barley is cooked
4. Add the pasta and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes. Add more stock or water if the pasta soaks up a lot of the liquid
5. Add the chicken meat and simmer for 5 minutes
6. Serve with crusty bread

Variations

1. Omit the pasta for Chicken and Barley soup
2. Add 5 tablespoons of tomato puree for Chicken and Tomato Minestrone soup
3. Use a vegetable stock and omit the chicken and bacon and substitute butter beans for Butter Bean Minestrone Soup. This would make a vegetarian or vegan minestrone soup.

Garnish

Fresh chopped parsley or any other chopped fresh herbs of your choice.
Grated local cheese or Parmesan cheese
Serve with garlic bread
I hope you enjoy the recipes on this blog and thanks for reading.